Web design trends for 2015

In the fast evolving world of web design we've had a look at what trends we should be looking out for over the coming year. The main web design trends include:

Movement

Expect to see more and more sites incorporating subtle animation and beautiful transitions into 2015. Movement is making a come back, not as a gimmick but as a means to enhance user experience and to draw the eye to certain areas and at particular points. Whether items move smoothly into place as you scroll down a page, or a button wiggles as you hover – subtle movement can be effective when it’s not overdone and is a great way to guide visitors around your site.

Typography

With the rise of affordable or even free type kits (in the case of Google fonts), designers are no longer limited to an un-inspiring and restrictive selection of web fonts. With variety, quality and affordability now all words that we can associate with web fonts – designers have the freedom to apply their type skills in ways they never could have considered before.

Expect more original, custom designed fonts into 2015 – websites are finally being treated to beautiful and considered typography!

Big Images

Another one of the web design trends: Big, background images. They might not be a completely new phenomena, but they certainly look set to stay for the coming year.

There is a lot of talk (and stats to indicate), that sliding banners just aren’t doing it for visitors and have a relatively low click through rate (and yes, we’re currently still sporting one of our own!).

Instead, a well selected, full-screen background image can have great visual impact; look powerful and elegant; and have a strong focus on the product or service in hand. Watch out for colour-overlays too – a nice touch to tie a colour scheme together and give a clear and coherent look to a well branded landing page.

Full-width, background videos are also gaining popularity. Used correctly they can really make a website feel alive – engaging the visitor and conveying a clear message.

Material design

Unveiled by Google in June 2014, Material Design retains many of the same aesthetic principles as flat design – bold colours, large imagery and clean, minimal lines. However, ‘Material’ goes much further than this – subtle gradients; lighting and shadows offer depth that we don’t achieve by following flat guidelines alone.

The areas that are covered within a brand audit include; visual identity, navigation and user experience on web, photography and illustration style, the words used within all marketing and social media and digital design